A senior North Korean diplomat strongly indicated that his country has no plans to abandon nuclear weapons unconditionally, despite its agreement to return to six-party talks, Japan's NHK TV reported.
North Korea's deputy foreign minister, Kang Sok-ju, speaking to a group of reporters while passing through Beijing from Russia, instead demanded that the US lift financial sanctions against the North.
NHK quoted Kang as saying that North Korea had not tested nuclear weapons only to abandon its program and get rid of them.
"Why would we abandon nuclear weapons?" NHK quoted Kang as saying.
"Are you saying we conducted a nuclear test in order to abandon them?" Kang added.
Asked if Pyongyang planned to demand that the US lift sanctions, Kang said "of course," NHK reported.
It added that the North planned to make the demand in preparatory meetings ahead of the expected resumption of six-party talks on the North's nuclear program.
North Korea's nuclear test, carried on Oct. 9, triggered international condemnations and a series of diplomatic and economic sanctions, with Japan and the US leading the attempt to dissuade Pyongyang from continuing to seek nuclear weapons.
In September last year, the North had agreed to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and aid.
It withdrew from talks two months later, protesting Washington's financial sanctions over suspected money laundering activities.
Pyongyang said early this month that it was willing to return to the talks, which some analysts believe could resume next month.
Kang was talking at Beijing's international airport on his way home from Russia, which he reportedly visited for unspecified medical treatment.
In Tokyo, government officials said that they could not immediately confirm the report but stressed that Pyongyang cannot be allowed to continue its development of nuclear weapons.
"North Korea has an obligation to give up all nuclear weapons and all existing nuclear programs," said Hiroshi Suzuki, deputy Cabinet secretary.
"The whole purpose of resuming the six-party talks is to make sure that we have tangible progress or concrete results," he said.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
ACTIONABLE ADVICE: The majority of chatbots tested provided guidance on weapons, tactics and target selections, with Perplexity and Meta AI deemed to be the least safe From school shootings to synagogue bombings, leading artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots helped researchers plot violent attacks, according to a study published on Wednesday that highlighted the technology’s potential for real-world harm. Researchers from the nonprofit watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate and CNN posed as 13-year-old boys in the US and Ireland to test 10 chatbots, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Deepseek and Meta AI. Eight of the chatbots assisted the make-believe attackers in more than half the responses, providing advice on “locations to target” and “weapons to use” in an attack, the study said. The chatbots had become a “powerful accelerant for
RSS